Hero
by M.C. Caveman
Summary: A normal man named Hiro with no super powers and little money finds a job in Paragon city as a journalist. because of his name, job, and wacky coincidences he is frequently mistaken for a super hero.
1. Chapter 1

HERO

"What are your plans for life Hiro?" The counselor asked. "Don't you ever want to go somewhere be someone special?"

Hiro, an average guy with no muscle or flab, was a college student. He lowered his head sadly trying to look up at his counselor but was embarrassed to admit he had no idea. Hiro stuttered for a moment only to shut his mouth again.

"Listen Hiro," the counselor continued. "You have been attending this college for almost ten years now, even taking classes in the summer. The problem is you still haven't settled on a major." The counselor grabbed his brow in frustration. "You have no particular pattern of classes, you've failed more than half, and I don't even know how you can afford to keep coming back."

Hiro tried to interrupt, but was not quick enough to get a word in.

"Looking at your transcripts I see you've taken a lot of psychology, art, English, and literature. The closest thing you have to getting is journalism. You only need one class. Fortunately for you I am teaching that class, but you failed your final by one point. If you should pass my class would you take a journalism degree?"

Hiro looked up sadly interested and settled on only nodding.

"Alright then," said the counselor. "I am going to flip a coin. If its heads, I will give you the point and let you pass getting your degree. If it is tails, you fail and try again next year. Ok?"

Hiro looks up genuinely shocked and without hesitation the counselor pulls out a coin and with a "Here we go!" flips it. They both watch intently as the coin seems to flip in mid air forever.

* * *

Journalism is not the easiest job to achieve, especially when you graduated with low scores. Hiro received help from his college but even then there were no magazines or newspapers with enough work to hire a starter. Everyday he went door to door looking for a job but everyone refused. It just so happened, one editor decided to be helpful.

"There is a place where there was always a story, where there was always a job for journalist. It was a heaven made for journalist who don't mind being a little braver than average. I call it The City of Heroes, Paragon City. They always need journalist; they go through them like crazy there."

Hiro gave a worried confused look to the man. The editor only hit his shoulder trying to snap him out of it.

"You can't be afraid of death; it is a risk all journalists have to take. It's just a little higher there. Believe me that is where all journalist go that want to make it big."

So Hiro took the man's advice. He obtained a license to enter and moved to Paragon City.

* * *

"So you want to be a Journalist huh?" The Chief asked Hiro. The first building Hiro tried for was one of the largest, the Paragon Prime.

"Yes sir, I would like that." Hiro replied.

The Chief looked up at Hiro suspiciously and gave a sly smile. Grabbing Hiro's resume he flipped over the cover sheet glanced at it and closed it without ever looking at the other six pages.

"You're hired!" The Chief handed Hiro back his resume and grinned. "Take this to one of my secretaries and ask her to file it and show you your desk. I expect a full story every morning except whatever two days you picked to be off."

"What do you want me to cover sir?" Hiro asked.

The chief looked at him humored, and stated. "This is Paragon City, there is always a story."

"Ok?" Hiro slowly turned around worried and confused. He hadn't taken one step away before a sharp pain went through his left arm. Hiro turned back only to witness The Chief holding a needle and looking puzzled.

"What was that for?" Hiro exclaimed puzzled.

"You're a Hero right." The chief blurted.

"No!"

"Of course you are just look at your name, you can't fool me." The chief quickly pricks Hiro again just below the ribs. "I have to know this you know."

"Ouch! Stop that. I'm not a hero"

The Chief gives him and angry stare, and nods. "Of course you're not a hero." Hiro turns around slowly again but tries keep an eye on his boss. "I've got my eye on you!" The Chief shouts. Hiro was almost all most at the secretary's desk when a stapler nailed him in the shoulder. He looked back at the boss angrily, but the only reply from The Chief was a, forget you, wave.

The first secretary he met was a pretty lady named Sue. She looked up with a smile, and said. "Don't mind the boss he's like that with everyone. Just don't give him any reason to believe you're a hero and he'll leave you alone." She opened the resume and began reading the first lines. "Oh!" she looked up at Hiro and studied him for a second. "I guess you are a He…"

"I'm not a Hero." Hiro lightly snapped. She only shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading the resume. She was skimming over the first page and rummaging under her desk at the same time. With a slam she placed a large book on the desk and without looking up filled him in on the info.

"Fill out these forms and bring them back as soon as possible. Make sure they are full and accurate otherwise you can't start work."

Hiro was a little shocked to find the first page was an in case of death certificate. He picked up the phonebook sized packet, and began to walk away, before something crossed his mind. Turning around and leaning on the desk, he asked.

"Do you know where I might be able to find an apartment for rent right away?"

She only looked up momentarily. "Page 235!"

* * *

It was a three story run-down old red building. A half lit sign barely lit the street, saying "Red Apartments". Chunks of brick wall were replaced with sheet rock in some areas, poorly painted. The windows were small and the neighborhood seemed dangerous. Hiro walked up to the only door which looked as sturdy as Easter grass. He knocked a few times and after only a minute the door was answered.

The door was answered by an old woman, with circular spectacles. She would have been a bit taller than him if she wasn't hunched over.

"Hello." She said. "You must be Hiro, the new tenant. I am Rita I run this building and I've owned it since it was built. Let me show you to your apartment."

Hiro was carrying two cases, and followed the woman at a steady pace. He was half worried she would keel over in front of him. They reached the second floor, and she stopped.

"Here we are room 007. The deposit is two hundred dollars, and rent is three fifty a month." She opened the door with a shoulder shove and revealed a small apartment suitable for a bachelor. There was even a small poker table in the dining room. The rooms looked dusty but all in all it was still livable. His bed room was right beside the sign and it worried him that he might be kept awake, but he would ignore it for now.

He handed the woman two hundred dollars and said. "I'll take it."

"You won't regret it." She stated. With a pat on the shoulder she handed him the keys and proceeded to leave. Rita reached the door but stopped when she grabbed the door knob. "I don't mean to pry but may I ask? What kind of hero are you?"

Hiro looked up and with a sigh stated. "I'm not a hero."

Rita looked back at him and studied him up and down. "OK but I can't help feel something is special about you." She walked out closing the door never expecting an answer.

two hours later

Hiro was getting tired of doing paperwork and he wasn't even a quarter of the way through. He had time though. With the money he received from his parents he could pay rent for another two months. He was hungry though and it dawned on him. There was no food. Looking outside he was surprised to see the sun had already come up and he had not slept.

"Its early I think I'll go get something to eat. I hear this city never sleeps." He was talking to himself. Hiro grabbed his coat and headed out making sure to lock up as he left. There was a shadow watching him from a window next to his as he walked down the alley.

An hour later, with a hand full of groceries, Hiro emerged again. He was fumbling for his keys and juggling the groceries at the same time. He hadn't even made it within nine meters from the door when a burst of deep cackles startled him. He unknowingly dropped his keys and watched as four figures came out of the shadows. He could barely make them out with the sun still hiding behind buildings. One was a huge hairy guy much like a homeless. Another was wearing white face paint. The other two looked like a pair of weak nerdy twins.

"We heard there was a new Hero in town." Face Paint said.

Hairy man said. The twins were still cackling but the brought out a pair of switch blades.

"I'm not a hero." Hiro said with a stutter.

"For your sake," Face Paint replied. "I hope you're lying."

Hiro ran to the door and began fumbling for his keys but they were not there. He did not even have the time to turn around, before his arm was almost ripped off by the big man. Hiro's back was brought down upon the man's huge beefy knee, and his groceries began to fly everywhere. He was then thrown into the twins who began to kick him back and forth while holding him standing by his arms.

"So much for the big hero," Face paint said. "I guess we'll have to take your lunch money." The man flashed one of the switch blades, and held it up. "Hope you know you way home from the hospital."

Hiro saw the blade descending down to his chest but he never felt a thing. Sweat beaded his forehead as he still looked into the man's face, but the man was looking to his right. Looking down Hiro saw a female hand holding the knife at bay. The woman attached was moderately attractive and smiling joyfully at her prey.

"Haven't you got something better to do than pick on the helpless." She said. Without letting go she lifted the man by his knife wielding hand and threw him into the big fellow. In a series of dance like poses she punched both twins in the face, knocking them down. The big man and Face Paint got up and started to charge at her, but she only punched both of them in the head when they got to close, causing them to teleport away. She then turned to the twins. She only took one step toward them before they began to run. On of them shouting, "Stupid swim suits."

Hiro was too dumbfounded to realize he wasn't even standing anymore. It was a fact he had not realized till his savior offered him a hand to get up. "Thanks!" Was all he could say.

There was a bit more morning light, so he could get a good look at her. She had golden curls much like the style of the mid eighties. And she was wearing a glossy leather swimsuit like outfit, it even had fins.

"You got to be more careful around here. There are always weirdoes around every corner. Fortunately I live in these apartments and I saw you coming, and going." She noticed him staring at her, and reached out her hand. "My name is Christine, but my hero friends call me Sky Violet 32."

Hiro shook her hand and wiped sweat from his forehead. "My names Hiro, I just moved into these apartments, and as you can tell I'm not really a hero."

Christine's eyes narrowed studiously. "So you're the new tenant. Rita was telling me about yo……."

A loud crash interrupted them. Out of the sky a large humanoid machine came crashing down. It was about as wide as a tank, and thrice as tall as either of them. With a couple more crashes it approached them.

"DESTROY ALL HEROS!" It proclaimed.

"Oh sh…" Christine couldn't even finish her words before she was knocked off her feet and slammed into the apartment walls.

Hiro tried rushing to her but he was still in pain. He was barely able to dodge one of the robots large arms only to be caught by a wire as thick as a water hose. It may not have been metal but the speed and ferocity made hero worry about his head being ripped off. He landed sideways on the front door step about a meter from Christine. She was trying to get up but obviously in pain also.

"Sorry I guess I'm a little too green to be the super hero today. At least I can show you how to get home from the hospital." Hiro could barely turn.

The machine began to charge weapons in both of its hands. It lifted its hands and suddenly stopped when a small burst of energy hit it. Out the corner of his eye Hiro could make out another female figure floating next to the apartment sign.

The female figure flew in close punched the machine left, then right making it flop like there was nothing there at all. She then grabbed the machine and flew high up in the air with it. Hiro used this time to get up and could see Christine doing the same. Three seconds after she flew off the mystery woman came crashing back down causing the Robot to shatter into thousands of pieces. Hiro watched as she flew back to the apartment sign and floated as if standing on an invisible platform leaning on the sign.

Christine walked away and Hiro kept watching this new woman.

"Here're your keys." Christine said, as she tried to hand them back to Hiro.

He was still staring at the mystery woman.

"Her name is Red. She is one of the oldest of the Super hero's. She's s super elite. These apartments where actually named after her." Christine knew he was listening but he couldn't keep his eyes off Red. She was busy surveying the damage.

Finally the sun crept out of the corners and shone brightly on Red. Hiro was so engulfed in thought he forgot about the pain. Here before him was a beauty he had never seen before. She had light tan skin, straight shoulder length red hair, and lips that would make Snow White jealous. She was wearing a red out fit with blue stripes and a diamond shape opening revealing her bellybutton. Hiro could see one horizontal blue stripe was on the belt line right above her miniskirt, and the other going from the pits of her arms to the belt line of the miniskirt which continued as a slit which revealed a lot of thigh. She wore long red high heel boots, and had a body that all of the heavens must have worked on to make.

Christine didn't even try to get his attention. The only words that came out Hiro's mouth were.

"I think I've fallen in Love." He had never been so bold in his life.

Red looked at Christine, and nodded. Then she looked straight into Hiro's eyes and smiled like an angel.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The phonebook sized pamphlet slapped down on the secretary's desk. She neither flinched nor noticed. There was a second secretary today; her nametag said Cam. After about five minutes of dwindling on her laptop she finally turned to grab the booklet. She flipped over the first page and started typing almost as if it had been there the whole time.

"You can go to your desk now." She never looked up once at him.

"HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?" The chief suddenly shouted in Hiro's ear. "I know you don't have super-speed, 'cause it took you a week to finish your novel."

"I walked sir." Hiro replied rubbing his ear angrily. "_I almost forgot about him" _he thought. "I passed right by you."

"Nonsense, no one gets by me. I see everything you dang teleporter."

"I'm not a telpor….."

"So you got my story?"

"I just barely started!"

"And you couldn't get anything within a week!"

"No! Well I, uh, um! About six days ago, the super hero Red rescued me and another hero from some….."

"Great, Super! Say it was yesterday and run with it. Old school Red saves a couple of newbs from the ugly streets. I want a typed fifty word paragraph on my desk within the hour."

"Ok but don't call me Super, and what's a ……" The chief walks away completely ignoring Hiro. "Newb?"

Hiro turned around to question the secretary, and she didn't even wait for the question.

"It's a newbie Superhero barely starting the job."

I"I'm not a…. Oh never mind forget about it."

Hiro walked to the desk he had been shown a week ago. It was more of a cubicle and the only thing in it was a computer, chair and an empty desk. It didn't take Hiro long to figure out the computer, and as he typed he had to stop himself a couple of times from typing Christine's name instead of her hero alias, Sky Violet 32. The building was surprisingly noisy but it didn't bother him too much. What did bother him was the conversation that was going on behind him.

"Is that him?" one woman said.

"I don't know." said another female voice.

"I thought he would be big and strong."

"I think it's him. Sue said he was pretty cute." This caused Hiro to blush.

"Don't say that out loud. What if he has super-hearing?"

"It doesn't matter, he can listen to me squirm if he wants."

"I heard the boss saying something, about him being able to teleport and move fast." A third male voice interjected.

"You don't need super-hearing to listen in to your conversation." Hiro spun around upset. He didn't get a good look at the male figure who immediately ducked behind a cubicle wall, but the two girls both blushed and started giggling. One of them, a black haired beauty, was dressed with a long black skirt, and a well mannered blue top. The second had Light orange hair much like Christine's, but she was dressed a bit more provocative. She had a yellow top open to reveal a black bra, and a miniskirt shorter than the seat of her chair revealing all. Hiro froze in embarrassment from seeing the provocative girl, and his chair seemed to rotate back towards the desk with out him even moving. The two girls both turned away still flush and giggling.

Hiro tried to type his work a bit more but he was too distracted now.

"See! I told you he had super hearing." One of them finally said, and he was too shy now to turn back around. They spent the rest of their time giggling.

"So how was your first day at work?" Christine asked as Hiro entered the apartment. She was coming down the staircase wearing a tight white t-shirt and tight denim jeans. Hiro risked a glance and blushed a bit. Christine just smiled.

"It was hellish." Hiro answered as he climbed up. "The boss has already convinced everyone that I am a super hero, and my desk seems to be surrounded but giggling daydreaming women."

"Ooh! Sounds like a dream come true." Christine said sarcastically. "I hope it doesn't make the job hard."

"No I should be fine. Most of my job will be on the field looking for stories. That shouldn't be hard the boss seems to print anything with a hero in it regardless of whether it's true or not. I just hope I can find a good source." Hiro was already at the top of the stairs looking down at Christine and she was at the bottom.

"If you want I can stop by and tell you a bit of my stories. I wouldn't mind and the reputation could do me some good on the streets."

"That sounds like a great idea."

"That would be good, ok I gotta work, bye." Christine waved at him with a smile and walked out. Hiro waved back thinking about how cute she was, but a flash of Red suddenly popped into his head. He shook it off but couldn't help smiling

"_I should have asked her about Red." _ He thought to himself. Hiro went up to his apartment and started rummaging through his apartment for supplies. He found paper and pens and decided to work on trying to buy a laptop for future projects. Hiro finished gathering supplies and headed out once again. "_No reason for me not to gather stories for future use." _

Hiro was surprised that it didn't bother him to wander the streets after his first ordeal. He tried to stick near the busy streets to avoid trouble, but around almost every corner he could hear screaming and scuffling. At one instance a young thin jogger rushed past him, swinging a small bat, hitting his head. All he said was.

"Welcome to Kings Row b#$!"

Hiro was aggravated but he wasn't hit to hard. After a while in the distance Hiro could see three large figures. He already recognized them as the statues in Atlas Park. He decided, "_That seems like a good place to get a story." _Hiro began to make his way there. Hiro went over the bridge in Perez Park and noticed pedestrian traffic was picking up quickly.

Hiro reached the end of the park and witnessed a guy trying to beat a do not walk sign. Within a second or two, a car came rushing out only to stomp on its brakes. The vehicle slowed down enough to only nudge the man, who never saw it coming, knocking him down on his face. Hiro rushed to the man and held out his hand in a stop jester to the driver. Silently he worded, "Are you alright?" to the male driver. The man nodded back.

The victim began pushing himself up, and turned to witness Hiro standing above him, hand held out toward the vehicle, the sun shining on him magnificently. Hiro was startled over a series of random clicks and flashes. There were people all around taking pictures of him and the scene. Hero held out his hand to the fallen man for help.

"You save me!" The Victim proclaims as he stands. "You pushed me out of the way and stopped the car. Thank you!"

"No I didn't." Hiro stated. "Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

A worried shaky driver came rushing to the side of them, and quickly looked the victim up and down. "Are you Ok?" he barely managed to ask.

"Yes I'm fine this Hiro saved me." The victim proclaimed.

"No I didn't!" Hiro snapped.

Suddenly a look of relief and a wicked grin took over the drivers face. "Yes you did!" the driver proclaimed. "You pushed the man down, and used your powers to stop my runaway car. You save two lives Sir. This young man and mine because I could not live with myself if I were to ever accidentally hurt or kill an innocent." Bystanders started clapping, and both Victim and driver started shaking each hand in appraisal.

Hiro was certain the driver was trying to avoid a lawsuit, and against his instinct to protest their accusations, he pulled his hands away from them. The driver kept thanking Hiro constantly as he got into his car again, and Hiro began to walk away without a word. The victim kept watching Hiro with star struck eyes and there were still people clapping as Hiro left.

The car sped off and the only thing left was the victim. The man looked around a bit and rushed to a group of three obvious tourists. "Say! I'll give you five hundred dollars for your camera and pictures." They discussed it only a few seconds then nodded proceeding with the exchange.

Hiro finally made it to Atlas Park, and approached from behind City Hall. Hiro stood behind one of the statues, and witnessed what seemed to be a huge party going on in the front of the building. There were heroes displaying firework like powers, and jukeboxes around most groups. There were costumes galore, and heroes dancing their heads off. He took witness to what looked like a cat lady hosting a good looks contest, with some large crazed hairy fellow proclaiming himself the winner regardless of protest from the judge.

Hiro had never seen so many powers before. There were people running at intense speeds, teleporting, and some jumping to extreme heights. A man in a blue suit with an electricity pattern suddenly protruded into his sight and began to power up like a generator. After about three seconds of a static like hum the man bolted into the air taking high speed flight. Hiro kept his eyes on the man afraid that any distraction would cause him to loose location of the man who now looked like a speck.

"Pervert!" Someone snapped from off to the side.

Hiro turned his head in curiosity and say a woman and young girl looking at him angrily. Hiro looked back up confused. He looked side to side, then suddenly a little higher to realize he was gazing surprisingly close to the inside of the Galaxy Girl Statue's skirt. He quickly looked back to the woman and child and shook his head and hands trying to think of the words to explain, but she just grabbed her child's shoulders and led her away.

Hiro kicked himself mentally for always getting in these predicaments. He was suddenly not interested in watching the Heroes anymore.

"_I need to find some stories." _ He thought. "_Maybe I can write about what happened earlier. Like that will ever make a story. I should probably buy a camera. I didn't have any pictures for my first article, and it would have been nice to have a shot of Red." _ Hiro blushed at the thought of her.

Hiro saw a small convenient store near the area so he made that his target. When he arrived in there was a dark tanned man, with thick black hair at the counter, and another thin young kid with an orange high school jersey on.

Hiro walked to the counter and asked the cashier, "How much for a one time use camera?" The cashier pulled one out from under his counter, and placed it down.

"Disposable cameras are a hundred and twenty."

"That's crazy!" Hiro snapped. "Back in my hometown a camera ranges anywhere between five and twenty dollars."

The cashier leaned on the counter, and looked Hiro into the eyes. "Listen since you're obviously new in town I'll fill you in. Have you every heard the fraise "a picture is worth a thousand words."?"

Hiro nodded, "Yea!"

"Well, in Paragon a picture is worth a thousand bucks. At least a good picture is. With big newspaper companies like Paragon Express, or Paragon Prime printing out two papers a day, pictures are in high demand. The best way to save money is to buy yourself a digital camera, a decent one around here goes for around $2000 or more."

"Wow!" Hiro was all out surprised at this news. He didn't even know his company printed two papers a day. "I guess for now I'd better buy a disposable one. I hope I can afford it."

Hiro was halfway through his purchase when a loud crack sounded from the door, and the other man, who was trying to exit, stumbled back a couple of feet.

The cashier handed Hiro the camera after accepting the money before looking up to the other man. "Can I help you?" He asked the kid.

"You can let me out." The kid snapped.

"Well!" the cashier replied. "You can either put those items back, pay me, or you can wait for the police to arrive."

"I don't have anything!" the kid shouted.

The cashier only kept staring at the kid without saying a word. Hiro was already getting worried over a conflict but he could not leave with the kid in the door way.

"Why don't you bite me!" The kid shouted as he produced an Uzi from under his cloths. Hiro closed his eyes and instinctively covered his face as a rain of bullets flew towards him and the cashier.

The sound of the weapon going off was there but Hiro never heard an impact. When he uncovered his eyes, he could see the bullets floating against air that rippled like vertical water. The kid was looking enraged but he only lowered his gun and hung it around his shoulder from a sling. He pulled out something from his pocket, and shouted "Fine!" The kid threw a hand full of cash on the floor, and tucked away his weapon. The cashier leaned over and counted the money from where he was. He then looked up at the kid and nodded.

The kid turned and walked out trash talking under his breath. The bullets fell to the floor causing him to snap out of his daze. He looked back at the cashier raised the camera and asked, "May I?"

"I'm sorry! No pictures in my store. It is policy." The cashier told him. "If you are looking for a good picture or story, I wouldn't recommend Atlas Park." Hiro looked up puzzled. "Too many heroes hang out there. There isn't much that can be taken or written there that hasn't already been covered. You might wanna try one of the islands or the sewers. Alleys and small streets only lead you where many men have gone before."

Hiro was a little disturbed at the thought of searching the sewers. "Ok! Thanks!" He headed out and decided on settling with the walk home for now.

"Hey, you're back!" Christine stated as she came running to him arms in the air. She was still wearing the white t-shirt but now she was barefoot and wearing short yellow boxers. She looked like she had just gotten out of the shower, but he suspected she may have been waiting for him.

"Are you ready to hear about my adventures now?" She said grabbing his wrist with two hands. "Come on!" She was tugging at his arm pulling him upstairs.

"I was wondering." Hiro interrupted. Christine stopped and stared at him with the attention of a child at story time. "Do you think you can also tell me some stuff about Red?"

"Oh!" She replied. She suddenly looked very sad. "I thought you just wanted to hear about me."

The thought suddenly dawned on Hiro that she may just want to spend some time with him, because she may like him. "_Way to go Hiro, ruin the mood by talking about another girl." _He was trying to think of something to change the subject, but they were interrupted by someone else entering.

"Did I just hear my favorite name?" It was Rita she had just arrived home herself.

Suddenly Christine cheered up again. "Yes Rita! Hiro wants to hear about my adventures…, and Red's." Christine nudged Hiro's shoulder with her elbow, and winked at Rita. "I think he likes her."

"That sounds like fun." Rita smiled and stood up straight as she said this. "May I join, I know Red personally so maybe I can tell you a thing or two."

"Rita!" Christine shouts. "Don't blurt things like that out."

"What you know her as well." Rita answered. "I think we can trust this man, besides we're not telling him who she is, so it should be safe."

"Ok! It should be fun!" Christine proclaimed. She then threw her arms out like a plane and ran upstairs giggling. "I'll get ready."

"I'll be up there in a bit also. See ya!" Rita said as she entered the first door to the right, which was her office and apartment.

"_I guess she doesn't like me that way." _Hiro thought to himself. "_At least I'm going to hear about Red. That will be great. Maybe I can see her again." _Hiro shook his head out of his daydreaming thoughts, and proceeded upstairs. "_I must be losing it! Like that will ever happen."_

Hiro was sad to see Christine had changed to some long sky blue pajamas. She and Hiro were sitting Indian style on a small round carpet he found. Christine wasn't necessarily sitting Indian style, because the palms of her feet were touching. Rita was sitting backward on her chair, which looked funny for an old lady with round spectacles.

"So I told the guy, I didn't know what cybering was and kicked him into the river, because it sounded dirty." Christine said cheerfully. Hiro was laughing and Rita was just shaking her head with a red face.

"So how did you manage to come about finding this place?" Hiro asked. "This is off the record!"

"Oh that!" Christine thought for a second. "Red showed me this place when I was young. I was about fifteen and my parents where terrified when I started floating around the place. For super heroes it's hard to lie about your powers when you start floating. That's something you get through strength and concentration."

"Speaking of super heroes," Rita interrupted. "I see you made it into the newspaper today." She was looking at Hiro.

"You mean my article?" Hiro asked. "I turned it in today."

"If that's what you call it." Rita said with a smile. "Every Hero starts from somewhere, you say. I vow to protect everyone from harm."

"What I didn't type that." Hiro protested. "Let me see that."

Rita hands Hiro the paper, and on page six in the bottom left corner he sees a picture of him standing between a car and a terrified man in the streets. Hiro noticed the face of the victim had been altered.

"New hero in town," Hiro read on. "Unlike modern superheroes that care only about saving people through violence, the man seen here proclaiming his name HERO helps save people from harm and death through actual thought and cares not about the physical benefits or money heroes receive. A modest hero, who proclaims as long as he is around no one will get hurt, and cares about everyone." Hiro lowered the paper. "I can't read on. Who could have done such a thing?"

"But you look so handsome." Christine told him. Hiro suddenly noticed she was pressed against his back, looking over his shoulder. He jerked away quickly, eyes wide, dropping the paper. She didn't seem to notice she just scooted up and grabbed the paper.

"Wow. You can stop cars." Christine said.

"No I can't that's a lie." He protested.

"Then why did you say all those things."

"I didn't whoever wrote that is lying."

"He's probably telling the truth." Rita interrupted. "Red used to hate that as well. The news has a tendency to take, add, and twist things you say or do. They can make you a hero or they can make you a villain in an instant."

"But Red is a hero!" Hiro interjected. "She is amazing, she is the best, and there can't be anything wrong with her."

"I think Hiro's fallen head over heals in love with Red." Christine giggled and kept looking back and forth between Rita and Hiro expecting a laugh.

"No, that's not true," Hiro tried to protest. "She's just different. I have never seen anyone like her. She's awesome, she's gorgeous, she's… perfect. And it's not just because she saved me."

"Of course not," Christine interrupted. "Let's not forget I saved you too." She was making a pouting face.

"Well, why not?" Rita suddenly broke out of concentration. "Would you like to meet her?"

"RITA!" Christine shouted.

In an instant, Hiro moved so fast they could not see him. He was suddenly kneeling on the floor before Rita. Hiro's fingers were interlocked as if he were praying, and his eyes looked up and sparkled like a child and a new toy.

"Can I? Can you do that for me? I would give you everything I got."

"Well I know she would like you." Rita said.

"RITA!" Christine shouts again.

"What?" Rita questions innocently. "She's single."

"She's also 130 years old Rita." Christine stated with squinty eyes.

"So!" Rita protests. "If you looked like that when you were 130 do you think anyone would care?"

"No, but it just feels wrong. Hiro you can't be serious." He wasn't listening he was just bowing slave-like to Rita.

"Very well, I'll talk to her. She should visit you in a day or two. I'll let you know."

Hiro jumped up and gave Rita a hug as she was getting out of her seat. She just patted him on the back and walked around him when he let go. He then started jumping around the room happily.

"Come along Christine. Its time we went home, I forbid you to stay in a boys room after bed time." Rita waited for her to follow behind.

"Oh you are so baddd!" Christine commented.

"Quiet! Don't ruin my fun." They both walked out.

Hiro had a hard time sleeping that night. All he could do was grin. He had never noticed, but the sign outside his window would only flash the word Red. The rest of the words weren't working. The sign had never bothered him, but now he could hardly resist the urge to move his bed to get a better view of the sign as he tried to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiro came into work fairly exhausted and he was hunching like a man who just got his ass kicked. A couple of coworkers started clapping when they saw him arrive and he just did his best to give them an angry stare.

The two women who sat behind him were smiling and waving him for him to come over when he arrived.

"I saw your article." The brunet stated.

"You looked so creamy handsome!" The blonde interjected.

Hiro seemed to wake just a little to protest. "I'm not a hero and I don't know who wrote that. It was just a misunderstanding."

"But the article you wrote yourself talks about your first hero encounter." The brunette said.

"I never said I was a hero." He snaps.

"Then why did you write this?" The blonde revealed another page of the newspaper with an article labeled. 'Old School Red Saves Two Newbs!'

"What the…?" Hiro clenched the paper slightly crushing it. The blonde woman was getting fidgety watching him. "Dam that editor, he just doesn't listen."

"So, you're not a Hero then?" the brunette asked.

Hiro looked back to her and, giving up, went back into his exhausted stance. He just started answering their questions in a mellow voice. "No. I'm not a Hero. The boss just changed my article and the car incident was just a misunderstanding."

"But there were several witnesses who saw you stop that car." An eaves dropper spoke from behind the cubicle walls.

"Who is that?" Hero walked around to stand witness to a familiar face. "I know you don't I?"

"No!" the man interrupts. "You've probably just seen me around the office that's all."

"Hiro, this is Kenny." The blonde interrupted this time. "I'm Sylvia, and this cute little prissy pant is Ruby." She said motioning to the brunette. Ruby just waved and Kenny looked like he was trying to hide. Hiro tried to concentrate again on Kenny but was interrupted once again.

"Hiro, What have you got for me?" The Chief appeared out of no where and violently punched Hiro in his arm. Hiro started to rub his now bruised arm but The Chief only hit him again to emphasize his point. "I know you didn't feel that."

Hiro was about to protest when the chief interrupted again. "I see you've already started to mingle with your brethren."

"I'm sorry?" Hiro questioned.

"Supers!" Chief blurted out loud. Ruby turned Red, Sylvia was smiling, and Kenny was now hiding closer to his monitor. "All four of you are some of Paragon City's finest… paper sellers. No one gets a story with pictures better than a Superhero."

"You three are Superheroes?" Hiro asked.

"No!" Ruby and Sylvia seemed to say at the same time. Sylvia seemed to have a slight sarcasm to the way she answered, but Ruby was turning redder. Kenny however turned red and practically squealed his denial.

"You four should get together and save the world or something." The Chief announced. "Yes the new super Team. Now hurry up and get out there. I want a full report in three hours." The chief dashed off again without waiting for their reply. "Dexter!" The Chief was already annoying someone else. "What banks have you blown up today?"

Hiro couldn't help feeling sorry for the chief's next victim. He turned back to his new acquaintances. "Does he really expect us to fight crime?" Hiro asked.

"Don't mind him." Sylvia answered. "As long as you got a story he's happy. If you want, I wouldn't mind looking for a story with you." Sylvia said this last line with a sly little grin, as she looked him up and down. Kenny was peaking over the cubicle walls again.

"I wouldn't mind," Hiro started. "But I already have a few stories to start off with. I think I'll work on them for now."

"Oh!" Sylvia pursed her lips and pretended to pout.

"I'd better get started." Hiro blurted. "I got a date tonight."

"A date?" Kenny seemed to jump at these words, but his head never emerged from behind his wall. This caught Hiro off guard.

"Don't mind him." Sylvia interrupted. "He's just a little star struck by you. So who is this, mystery women, or man as Kenny hopes?"

Hiro's eyes widened with shock, and the cubicle wall suddenly shook violently.

"Shut up!" Kenny shouted. Sylvia's grin was sincerely evil. Hiro had to resist the urge to question.

"Well, she's a super hero, and I'm hoping it will go well."

"A hot date, huh? I hope it goes well. Who may I ask is she?" Sylvia questioned further.

"I think it would be best if I don't say. I think I could do without anymore rumors flying about me."

"Ooh! She sounds really hot. I hope all goes well. I wouldn't worry though. Very few super hero relationships ever become popular. Only the biggest names get that attention."

Hiro resisted a smile, and settled on saying. "I'll play it safe anyway. I would rather not take any risk."

"Ok, that's fine. I don't wanna break Kenny's heart anyway. Have fun!" The cubicle shook again, but Sylvia just went back to work. Ruby who had just been listening was just smiling shyly, as she worked.

Hiro went to work typing what stories he had gathered and organizing them. He was doing his best to set up a system to keep his work organized. After a couple of hours Sylvia and Kenny both took off for the day saying they had to get to their other job, leaving Ruby alone at her cubicle. She seemed a little sad but she just kept working.

The amount of time it was taking Hiro to set something up was longer than he expected. It was already starting to get dark outside. He couldn't help but worry more and more about his date, but he was sure he still had some time.

It was 7pm when Hiro finally finished. He was preparing to leave. Rita said, Red agreed to meet him at 8pm in front of the apartment. Looking at his watch he grabbed his coat, and began to head for the exit. He hadn't made it to the door when he heard a loud squeal. Against his better instinct he rushed back to his desk.

Ruby was crying at her cubicle, her hands to her face. Mysteriously the office, which was still rather full, didn't seem to notice her.

"What happened?" Hiro asked.

"My computer just froze," Ruby wailed. "And I haven't saved once today." She started crying softly to herself.

Hiro looked at his watch again, then back at the screen. "Let me see." He said taking a seat on her chair. She slid over instead of standing up. The seat was obviously too small for them. He was a little embarrassed at having to rub up against her but she didn't seem to notice.

"Ok it's not too bad." Hiro stated. "All you have to do is go into the sub temporary folders for the modem and…" Hiro looked at Ruby and could tell by her expression she did not understand a word he was saying. "Don't worry I can fix it. All computers hold a temporary history." He settled on telling her that.

Hiro kept checking his watch as he searched the computer. "There I found it. This is weird, it's got a password. Let me see if I can get around it."

"You seem to know a lot about computers." Ruby stated

"I took a lot of programming classes in college." Hiro suddenly gripped the air, and did a small cheer. "I got it." The folder Ruby was working on suddenly popped up and displayed its contents.

"Yes, you did it." Ruby gave Hiro a hug and grabbed the mouse quickly after clicking the save button. Hiro was checking his watch and preparing to stand up when a loud high pitch squeal through him off balance.

"What did I do now?" Ruby looked worriedly at the screen. It was flicking multiple colors and showing multiple distorted images. Hiro made an attempt at reaching for the mouse, but before he could, large bolts of electricity erupted from the monitor.

There was suddenly a large golem like creature standing before them behind the cubicle walls. Hiro didn't know what to make of it.

"Oh my god it's Micro-Error!" Ruby announced. Many of the workers in the office ran out. Hiro was surprised the Chief was nowhere in sight.

"Where is Intense Man?" The Creature bellowed in a strange hollow voice.

"He's not here!" Ruby shouted back. Hiro could only stutter.

"He's gonna pay for trapping me in that program." Micro-Error pronounced. "I will destroy him and all he cares for. Where is he?" The creature looked around and focused on Hiro. "Is it you? I will delete you!" The creature bellowed and swiped towards Hiro. It was very careful to avoid the computer.

"Leave him alone!" Ruby shouted. Hiro was surprised at her bravery. "It seems I have no choice. Hiro, don't Freak out." Hiro turned to Ruby and saw her praying. When she stopped she took up a strange pose and was suddenly engulfed by light.

When the light cleared Hiro saw a fully costumed Ruby. If he hadn't seen it himself he would not know it was her. She wore a full face golden mask with wings protruding the top. Her outfit was encrusted with jewels and looked like something from an Egyptian picture, complete with golden sandals. She had a long scepter with a sharp spear at the top.

"Ah, Aztec Goddess. I am surprised you were sent to do Intense Man's dirty work." The creature said with what can only be assumed was a smirk. "I will beat the information I need out of you."

Ruby spun her scepter around and brought it down on a cable in the middle of the floor.

"I have severed the internet connection. Now you cannot escape." Ruby said. Hiro suddenly heard her voice in his head. "_Hiro I will distract him. I need you to try and trap him in that program again. He won't attack you because if he breaks the computer he will hurt himself as well. I know you can do it. Please help me; I can not do it alone."_

Hiro wanted to protest but he couldn't think quickly enough. Ruby flew at the creature and tried to slice it with her scepter. Hiro watched them exchange blows a few times before looking to the computer. He didn't know where to start so he began with the program he opened. After studying it a few seconds he started to work.

Ruby kept fighting and at some point two other heroes appeared and tried to help. One was a small weasel looking boy, and another was a skinny little girl with hardly much of a costume at all. Neither of them proved much use, and each was taken out quickly. Hiro kept working at the program for what seemed like forever.

After some time Ruby was clearly having trouble and Hiro could tell. She began begging for him to hurry. Hiro was sweating tirelessly. The creature suddenly pushed Ruby down and he was making to stomp on her when he suddenly froze. Ruby slid out from under his foot and she prepared to attack when Hiro interrupted.

"Don't touch him." This caught Ruby off guard. "It was clear making a program to hold him was going to take time, so I created one to pause his actions. I don't think it will work if you interfere though."

Ruby was walking around Micro-Error cautiously, studying. "That's amazing! You thought of that. I would have never thought. What now?"

"Now," Hiro sat stunted for a second. "We wait till I finish." Hiro started typing as fast as he could concentrate. After a while the other two super heroes got up and where cheering him on. All three were standing over his shoulders as he worked.

Finally after some time he was able to relax, and with a scream, Micro-Error flew back into the computer. He leaned back and could feel the tension ease away. Hiro was only granted a few moments of silence when a burst of cheers interrupted him. Not only where Ruby and the other two cheering, but Many of the workers were back and standing in doorways and along the walls cheering as well.

Hiro was shocked and found himself at a loss for words. Everyone was rushing in on them. He wanted to get up and run when he saw The Chief leading the crowd.

"Excellent! Excellent! What did I tell you?" The Chief blared aloud. "I knew you all would make a great team. "The great Hiro, Aztec Goddess, Weasel Boy, and Ferret Girl save the day."

"I'm not a…" Hiro tried to object.

"My name is Justice Lad." the boy shouted. No one was listening, the chief was ranting about how he was going to make them famous. The girl was trying to hide behind Ruby. Hiro couldn't do much about the wave of camera flashes that bathed them.

Eventually the mob died down and everyone was cleaning up and getting back to work. Ruby disappeared, and came back out of costume. She was obviously trying not to reveal her identity. The other two disappeared completely. Hiro did a bit more work on the computer when Ruby came up to him.

"So what can we do about Micro-Error?" she asked.

"I designed the program so that all I have to do is delete," Hiro clicked the mouse. "And he's nothing but a bad dream now."

"Wow you are so smart!" She leaned over his shoulder. "Listen, I'm sorry you had to miss out on your hot date." Hiro suddenly remembered it himself. Looking at his watch he saw the hands pointing to 12:36 AM. He just dropped his hands and hung his head in sadness.

"For what its worth," Ruby continued. "I'm glad you spent the evening with me." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed his left cheek. Hiro looked into her eyes and they smiled at each other. "So how are my files?" She asked.

Hiro looked back to the computer and started searching.

"It would seem everything is in order. What is this?" Hiro clicked on some files and instantly popped up the articles about him stopping a car with his powers. "Why is this here?" He sounded agitated.

Ruby still had her arms around his shoulders when she looked at the screen. "I don't know. Sylvia, Kenny, and I share a router so we can see each others files with the right password." Ruby looked at the files then quickly stood up. "Hiro I swear. Those aren't mine. I never wrote that article."

"I know you didn't Ruby." Hiro sounded angry now. "I know exactly who it was." With another click, a non cropped picture of Hiro appeared. He was standing tall; his hand stretched out toward a car, and on the street staring at him in wide wonder, was Kenny. "I'm gonna kill him!"

Hiro finally made it home it was already 1:30 AM. It surprised him that Rita was still up.

"You finally made it." Rita said. "I was really getting worried."

"I'm sorry for making you worry. A super villain attacked the Daily Bugle. They really needed my help."

"Does that mean you're going to be in the paper again tomorrow?"

Hiro looked up at her gloomily. "Sadly, yes." He waited a few seconds before asking the question he dreaded. "I take it Red was really upset with me not showing?"

"Actually, no she wasn't!" Rita was quick to answer. "She never showed up either."

"Oh!" Hiro said grimly. "I should have known."

"What do you mean?"

"A guy like me doesn't have a chance with someone like Red. I guess I was no more than another fan dreaming."

"Don't feel to bad Hiro. Maybe we can set up another date."

"No, don't worry about it. I would probably just bore her, there's no way I can compare to her."

"I'm sorry to hear that. So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know. I'm tired but I think ill stop by the all night market, get a quick snack, than come home to call it a night. I'll just have to deal with another bogus article again."

Rita just nodded, and said "Goodnight." She quietly went into her apartment.

The small store had vegetables and fruit displayed in wooden crates all along the sidewalk leading to the entrance. Hiro was too tired and depressed to even pay attention to the produce displayed in front of him. He was grabbing random things and placing them back without much as a gaze.

Suddenly a voice jolted him awake. It was a voice he had never heard before but it seemed like angels. He didn't have to look to know who it was. It could only be one person.

"Rita told me I could find you here." Hiro turned and found himself face to face with the woman of his dreams. Red was in a casual outfit, a very pretty long skirt, and a short sleeve blouse. She was wearing brown outdoor slippers and her hair was tied back.

He was too tired to be shy. He was too surprised to speak. The only thing Hiro could do was smile widely.

"Do you think there are any nice places to eat open this late at night?" Red Asked.


	4. Chapter 4

To all my fans i apoligize for the long delay in this chapter being posted. Due to my reenrollment into school, changing of address, and long work hours it has taken me some time to ge back onto the net. I promise from now on i will stay up to date and look forward to the next chapter soon!

* * *

Yesterday evening's events could have never happened as far as Hiro was concerned. He was joyous. He was walking on air. Hiro hardly slept last night, but the days end was more than he could have ever hoped for. His date with Red went exceedingly well. He felt like he couldn't remember a thing about last night, yet he couldn't stop replaying each second in his mind. Every time he tried to concentrate on one moment his thoughts rushed somewhere else. They had dinner, they laughed, they flirted, and they enjoyed a stroll along the edges of Atlas Park. Hiro remembered thinking, the large Superhero statues looked beautiful in the moonlight, but no where near as beautiful as Red was.

"I had a wonderful time. I hope we can do this again soon." After saying that Red gave Hiro a goodnight kiss on the cheek, and flew away. Hiro couldn't keep the vision of the kiss out of his head.

"Ding!" The sound of the elevator was the hundredth thing to snap Hiro out of his daze today. The doors swung open to reveal a full office. Everyone was busy, yet they all looked up with anticipation. When it was clear Hiro was the one entering a round of cheers broke out. Hiro looked around and for once it didn't seem to bother him. He chose to pretend they where cheering about his date.

As usual the office was a bustle. Everyone was rushing this way and that. On random bulletins that where posted around the office he saw a few pictures of him self with declarations of safety. It was apparent he didn't make the front page which made him feel a whole lot better, but a half page picture of him was just as bad.

Hiro was surprised not to see the chief wandering around hounding the employees today. It was just more reason for him to be in a good mood as far as Hiro was concerned. Hiro started to make his way to his cubicle and multiple people made sure to greet and cheer him on his way. One attractive thin blonde girl made her presence known by running her hand down his right torso, and seductively saying, "Hi" as she passed. This snapped Hiro out of his daze somewhat.

Hiro reached his cubicle to be greeted by Ruby and Sylvia. They both did a light clap.

"I saw your news article." Sylvia announced. "It kind of hard to prove you're not a hero now. You must have been great to defeat a villain like that."

"I'm not a hero. I just helped. The real hero was…" Hiro couldn't finish his sentence because he saw Ruby give him a look of panic, "uh that girl." He recovered poorly. It was obvious Ruby was a little upset by his choice of words.

"That girl?" Sylvia said with a smirk. "You fight crime with her and you don't even know her name. You must be a real playboy with the ladies."

"I'm sorry!" Hiro blurted. "I didn't mean to be rude. Everything happened so suddenly I can hardly remember it myself."

"Don't look at me." Ruby squeaked. Her face turned scarlet and she was trying to look away. "You should apologize to Greek Goddess." Hiro could sense a little snap to her words. Sylvia began to look back and forth between them sensing something was up. She was opening her mouth to question before she was interrupted.

"It must be a shame that you had to miss out on your date for all that trouble." Ruby was desperately trying to change the subject.

"Actually no, I still got to go out." Hiro quickly jumped back in with a huge grin on his face. The daydream smile was broad enough to cause Ruby's jaw to gap and eyes sadden. "She arrived late as well. She must have been real busy or something but I was lucky enough to get home before she ever showed up."

They were interrupted once again, this time by the shaking cubicle wall. Hiro looked up and barely caught a glance of Kenny's head ducking for cover. Torn between bragging and sudden anger Hiro rushed around the cubicle in a heart beat to find Kenny head low like a frightened cat.

"You," Hiro said this with clear resent "your computer was the one that housed that stupid monster." He could hear the girls gasp from behind the wall.

"I-I don't know why that would be." Kenny stuttered very badly.

"When I was done I found something interesting. I think you have a bit of explaining."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kenny was facing him clearly worried now.

"I know it's you. I know who you are!"

Kenny was sweating wildly now. "Pl-please d-don't tell anyone."

"Tell anyone!" Hiro was clearly upset. "Why would I want to tell anyone? This is between me and you."

"Y-you mean, you don't care." Kenny was suddenly surprised at this.

"What do you mean I don't care?" Hiro snapped. "Of course I care. I wouldn't have confronted you if I didn't. I'm asking you nicely to stop."

"Oh! Hiro I'm glad that you care, but you know why I can't."

"There is no reason for you to keep doing it so stop." Hiro snapped feeling a little confused.

"Hiro, your words and feelings are so kind. It is that kind heart I am out there to protect, people like you." Kenny said these words with a passion and a few tears in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Hiro realized they were thinking two totally different subjects.

"Hiro thank you for your vow to secrecy. I don't know what everyone would do if they knew I was Intense-Man." Kenny was standing now with his hands clasped together. "You are so kind. We shall make it our little secret."

"We can still hear you, you know!" Sylvia announced from behind the wall.

Kenny didn't seem to notice her he had actually moved in close to Hiro and started rubbing the side of his face with Hiro's.

"My Hero!" as Kenny said this Sylvia started giggling wildly, and Ruby turned red with shock.

Hiro started pushing Kenny away franticly. "Stop writing stories about me you freak." Hiro managed to get away and stormed off back to his cubicle.

"Anything you say!" Kenny said this last part with clear enthusiasm. He wasn't bothered one bit by Hiro's rejection. Before Hiro could even sit down his body gave off a spasm like shutter at the thought, and he let out a large disgusted grunt. It was almost like trying to shake off a bad image. Sylvia was still giggling wildly.

"HIRO!" Hiro hadn't made it completely into his seat when chief scared him back into a straight stand. Hiro was making an annoyed face.

'I should have known my good mood wouldn't last.' Hiro quietly thought to himself.

The chief rushed up to Hiro and gave him a buddy like tackle, dropping a cigar from his mouth. The Chief's tackle was strong enough to knock Hiro into the wall. Hiro grunted loudly and the chief looked him up and down with fictitious shock.

"What's the matter Hero? I would have thought you could take a hit by now." The chief said this with a wide grin. "Are you going the convention today?"

"Convention, what convent…?"

"The Hero convention," the chief bellowed out with enthusiasm. "It's the biggest convention in the world for supers. Many of the big name super heroes show up and they give advice to many of the new heroes." As the chief informed Hiro he pulled out another cigar and placed it to his lips.

"I had never heard of such a thing." Hiro started explaining.

"It's amazing!" The chief shouted. As he said this he flailed his left arm and knocked the unlit cigar into the air, and Hiro watched it flip a few times and land on his computer. When Hiro looked up, the chief was still talking and already had another cigar in his teeth. "No where on earth can you get so much publicity. Every newspaper in the world sends someone. You can meet new true heroes and old all at once. It's the biggest money maker of the year." The chief threw his hands up in the air as he said this.

"I had made no plans to attend Sir, I'm sorry." Hiro said sadly.

The Chief's jaw gapped and Hiro watched the third cigar land on the floor. "What do you mean you made no plans, I already got you seats and everything?"

"But I…" Hiro tried to protest.

"You have to go, Super!" The chief said this pleadingly, yet Hiro could tell there was an insistence to his tone. Hiro noticed that the chief had a forth cigar as well. "You're the only Hero that works with me that has enough publicity to get a seat. No one here can get that close. The best thing is for you to take one of the happy-trio." The chief motioned toward Ruby, Sylvia, and Kenny."

"What do you mean take one of the…?" Hiro started asking.

"I mean a date, Hiro." The chief shouts surprised. "You're allowed one guest, and its tradition that a hero takes a date. It can be another Hero or just someone else."

"I don't know…" Hiro was going to finish with 'if I can go.' but was interrupted again.

"Great," the chief blurted. "It's settled then! You spend the rest of your day deciding who to take and I'll expect a big story when you get back."

The chief wandered off again, and started to hound someone else. "Dexter, I need you to stay far away from tonight's convention!"

Hiro was staring at his feet trying to think. He noticed there were a total of six cigars laying there. Upon looking up he met the gaze of the other three reporters. The way they stared caused him to stumble a bit.

"What?" He questioned nervously.

"Who are you gonna take?" Kenny asked. Hiro stumbled even more and began to scratch his head with a chuckle.

"I can't go." Sylvia said in a serious manner. "I got better things to do." She turned back to her desk and Hiro could tell it was the end of the subject for her. His gaze then turned to Ruby.

"I won't go." She blurted. "I mean, I can't go... I mean I would go if I could… That is if you wanted me to go, but I can't... I got some stuff to do... Maybe you should try to meet someone there." Hiro could tell she was very conflicted about this, so he broke eye contact with her to help her change the subject.

Kenny was holding onto the cubicle wall happily, and he was staring at Hiro with the look of a begging puppy. Hiro could tell just by the look he was getting what Kenny was hoping for, and what Kenny's answer would be.

"I've got to make a phone call." Hiro changed the subject as quickly as he could. At hearing this Kenny fell back into his cubicle with a loud crash, and he shouted. "How Cruel!"

Hiro picked up the phone for a few seconds, but couldn't think of anyone to call. He didn't have Red's phone number so he couldn't call her. It took him a moment to think but he just called the first name that popped up.

After a few seconds of dial tone the other line picked up. "Hello, Christine?"

The convention was larger than Hiro had ever imagined. People and heroes where everywhere with costumes so colorful you would think someone set off fireworks.

Hiro was having trouble getting to the door, and a hand full of reporters where having trouble getting through the doors, as well.

"I hear sometimes reporters will dress up and pretend to be heroes to get in." Christine, who was holding Hiro's arm, informed him. She was in her costume and smiling gleefully. Hiro was just wearing a simple dress-shirt with tie and brown slacks.

"I've never been to one of these." Christine told Hiro. "You've got to have a decent reputation to get in."

"Names Please?" An extremely wide, yet short, bouncer was at the door. He was checking off a list on what looked like an electronic clip board.

Hiro stuttered a bit but managed to say his name. "Hiro," A light popped out of the machine and a laser-like scanner went up and down his face.

"Verified," The machine said clearly.

The huge man looked up and Hiro for the first time. "You're the guy who defeated Micro-Error." The big fellow stated. "I'm glad you came." The big guy let out a big beefy hand to shake. Hiro noted that it could probably crush him easily. Hiro still shook his hand anyway. "It's always good to meet promising newbs. I hope to get many good years of service out of you."

"Thanks." Was all Hiro could say as he freed his hand. He was surprised how normal the grip was. The man was about to stop Christine when Hiro interrupted. "She's my guest."

"Oh, Ok! Name please!"

"Sky Violet 32," After giving her hero name, the machine scanned Christine. The machine then announced her registration, and they were allowed to pass. Someone in a full blue jumper suit stepped up to the bouncer as they continued through the door. The place was so huge, Christine held Hiro's arm close and he hardly noticed.

The roof was high and there were people flying back and forth. Hiro couldn't tell If they were performers or real heroes just showing off. The bustle of the room was like no crowd Hiro had ever heard before. The place almost seemed magical. There where flashes and bangs going on at every table. There was a loud rumble as a huge figure Hiro recognized from the "Good-Looks Contest" at Atlas Park went running by.

"Where do you think we sit?" Christine asked.

"I don't know we'd better look around." Hiro started guiding her through groups of pushy heroes left and right. He could hear many discussions of battles, and new moves, and advice. They were both almost side swiped by what looked like a couple of flying monkeys in jetfighter outfits. This made Christine laugh, Hiro noticed how her laugh mad him smile and calmed him.

"Come on lets go," He grabbed her hand and they made their way through a small crowd, Christine was smiling the whole way. Just as they were exiting the group she bumped a large metallic figure, causing his shoulder to jolt back. He looked every bit the night in shining armor but he was obviously only a robot by his glowing eyes. He watched them search the room and his eyes glowed a bit as he scanned Hiro.

"Look there we are, at the Newb tables." Hiro said as he pointed ahead. "I hate that word, and look at how far back they sit us from the veteran heroes."

"I don't mind." Christine said. "Don't be upset remember you're not really a hero right." Christine lightly poked Hiro in the ribs at this and hugged his arm teasingly. "Thanks for inviting me. Oh, my god! Look at that!" Christine let go of Hiro's arm and ran into the crowd. Hiro didn't even see what she was chasing. He went to his seat and sat there a bit. A plate of food seemed to materialize out of nowhere in front of him. The food looked very fancy, and a small wine glass appeared as well.

Hiro was about to cut into what looked like chicken with sauce when someone sat near him about two seats to his left. The figure was all in red leather and had long black hair with black sunglasses. The shades did not seem to have a connecting bridge for the nose. The man leaned back on his chair and slammed his boots on the table about half a second after the food appeared. He looked at his now messy boots clearly upset, and after a quick mutter left his feet right in the middle of the plate and continued leaning back almost as if nothing happened.

"Aren't you going to clean your boots?" Hiro asked him.

"Nah, it doesn't matter. No one looks at my feet anyway." The figure answered.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"No point in getting angry. Its not gonna kill me anyway." The man reached over and grabbed his wine glass. "And besides, everyone else is making a mess anyway."

Hiro looked around, noticing several points of broken balcony railing to an upstairs floor and what looked like an old chandelier being trampled in the middle of the floor. "What do you do?" Hiro asked the man.

The man looked at Hiro and reached out his right hand. "The names Rjvthebest buddy, and I guess I'm a super hero, they did let me in."

"Rjv?"

"Yea you can call me that. All the other hero names were taken anyway, and I didn't feel like being creative."

"Ok, My names Hiro. I'm a reporter for the Paragon Prime."

"I knew you looked familiar. You're the, protect the little man, super computer nerd, guy." Hiro thought about it for a second and only shrugged his shoulders. "Me I'm from another world. It's more like another dimension to be exact. I got banished for abusing my powers, and technically stripped of my abilities, but someone made a mistake I guess. Anyways long story short, I end up here, have a little fun, and everyone calls me a hero so if the shoe fits I wear it."

Hiro nodded and was about to ask another question, when a loud uproar distracted them. Up ahead in the crowd that Christine ran into, they could see a bunch of women swooning, and hear the jibber jabbers of someone's arrival. The floor seemed to clear a bit and into view popped a thin slender figure with a skin tight suit and face-mask the covered all but his hair mouth and eyes.

"That's him! That's him!" some girl exclaimed to another. "Intense-Man, He's Paragon's most handsome rising star."

At hearing this Hiro could not help being in shock. This man did not look one bit Like Kenny. He was certain that it couldn't be Kenny. He was different down to the hair and physique. This man had short teased hair and a thin ripped slender body. Kenny was a small greasy looking fellow. Hiro was trying to study him better when Intense-Man looked his way. Hiro suddenly wished he had a place to hide. The eyes that looked at him were enough. Hiro knew it was him and he didn't want to know what he wanted

"Hello Hiro." Intense-man said as he suddenly glided toward the table. A soft sigh came from the women around him. "I have been reading a lot about you. I find your beliefs, style, and intellect very intriguing. The fact alone that you defeated my arch nemesis, Micro-Error is enough to foretell your potential. I was wondering by any chance if you may be looking for a partner."

"Wow." One of the fans giggled as she said this. "He's always worked alone so far. It must be a great honor."

"Uh, No," Hiro said this a little more bluntly than he expected. "I mean, I'm sorry but I have no interest in joining any superhero team, or league, or any kind of group of crime fighters."

"Oh," Hiro could tell this made Intense-Man sad. Intense-Man's eyes looked to the floor. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I respect that decision." RJV gave a loud chuckle and threw his wine glass behind him shattering on the floor. Intense man gave RJV an angry sneer and looked back to Hiro. "I understand that you fear for others safety when out on the field and that is why you feel you must work alone. Please keep in mind though. Should you ever change your mind, the offer will still stand." At this Intense-Man turned around and silently walked away from the table. Hiro was glad it was over.

"I'm glad you shot him down." RJV tried to start another conversation again. "There's something wrong with that guy, #$ing queer."

Hiro looked at RJV and said, "You have no idea." RJV took this as a joke and started laughing.

In as little as a breath the Robot Christine had bumped into came rushing up to Hiro's table and slammed his hands down on it.

"Mr. Hiro I am very unappreciative of your stance on the whole hero business," the robot stated. "The many documents I have read about you inform me that you are unappreciative of what other heroes due and your quotes belittle them. You obviously have no idea what its like to be a true hero." With that the robot stood up straight mechanically and turned around. His head was still facing Hiro though. "I have stated my opinion and the opinion of other heroes please take it to heart." The robot's head turned around and it slowly marched off. Hiro was stuck with wide eyes and a stutter he didn't know how to reply.

Intense-Man was watching not far away, and it clearly aggravated him. As the robot began passing through crowds Intense-Man made sure to intervene with its path.

"Hey you," Intense-Man shouted getting the robots attention. He then walked up to it and began whispering something. "Listen you'd better be careful with that guy cause he…"

Hiro was getting nervous again due to confrontation and the fact that he didn't know where Christine went. Rjv was just kicking back juggling sizzling balls of energy.

A slight feeling of claustrophobia was creeping up on Hiro when suddenly someone poked him in his left ribs. Hiro turned and leaning in between him and Christine's chair blocking his view of Rjv was a face he didn't expect.

"Hi!" Red greeted. She was in a full body sky-blue jumper suit complete with hood. Regardless of the fact that her hair was pulled back Hiro recognized her under it.

"Hi," Hiro replied back happily. "Christine told me you never came to these conventions."

"I don't but I had good reason to make an exception." As she said this she slid into Christine's seat, and rested her right hand on Hiro's arm. "I got the bouncer to remain quiet, I'm in disguise. I stopped coming because they are big on starting scandals between heroes here, and I got tired of other heroes asking me out."

"You came for me," Hiro said this with a happy little flush of color. "I'm honored." He was glad she liked him that much. "I suppose its good that I'm at the newb tables then. It would be trouble if all the attention focused on you."

Before Hiro could think of another subject, he could feel himself growing pale as the robot from earlier came rushing back to the table. It stopped just short and stood at attention in a butler like manner.

"I would like to formally apologize to you for my earlier behavior." The robot stated. "I was not informed of your victory over Micro-Error, and underestimated your worth. Please forgive me, and if I may ask please do not change my voice to imitate that of a female child's." The robot bowed as it said this and caught the attention of just about everyone within three yards of the table.

Hiro was suddenly red with embarrassment and tried to wave off the robot, "That's ok don't worry about it." He muttered hoping to avoid the attention around him and Red. Hiro could already hear people around the table muttering about the situation. No one had noticed Red yet.

The robot stood up, and said "Thank you for your forgiveness." Its eyes where glowing again. After about a second the light dimmed and the robot spoke again. "I did not expect your companion for tonight to be you Ms. Red."

In what seemed like super speed camera flashes engulfed the couple and Red barely had any time to bury her face into Hiro's shoulder. They were suddenly bombarded by questions and stares.

"Oh my god you made it!" Christine shouted as she appeared out of nowhere. She stood behind the couple and threw her arms around them innocently making the scene look worse. Hiro looked up and caught sight of two familiar faces amongst the crowd.

Intense-Man (Kenny), standing between two girls, to his left was Aztec Goddess (Sylvia), and to his right was a robust brunette with a long black tight silk-like outfit and black bandana covering her eyes with slits so she could see. All three had looks of shock in their eyes and Hiro was suddenly sure he knew who the brunette was. (please review)


	5. Chapter 5

This is the second time I am posting this because the first time was an incomplete rough draft, and I hadn't realized it until long after the chapter was posted. Here is the complete unedited copy. I am sorry for being such a terrible writer. I wish I could post these up quicker but my luck seems to be that of a teacher's. Every time I get the chance to write and post I come across the strangest of luck. I wish I could promise to keep up with this story from now on but I'm afraid if I do, chances are I will disappear again. I'll will have to settle with I will do my best. Without further a do here's the next chapter.

* * *

Hiro arrived home from work, holding the evening's paper, clearly upset. Flash backs of the banter from his colleagues ran fresh in his head, causing a vein to protrude from his temple. 

"Why didn't you tell me you were seeing her?" Hiro recalled Ruby shouting at him. Hiro was at a loss for words, since he promised Red he wouldn't tell anyone about their relationship, nor acknowledge it.

"What a cruel secret to keep from me!" Kenny whined loudly. Hiro recalled him leaning over his cubicle wall with puppy-dog eyes which flowed with tears.

"Way to go Big Guy." Sylvia said at one point with a seductive tone. She was even looking Hiro up and down as if she suddenly found him irresistibly attractive.

Hiro's day was made immensely worse and difficult, due to the fact that The Chief never once left his side. The Chief literally danced around Hiro the whole day, parading him with questions. If it were up to Hiro he would shout his feelings for Red to the world. Somehow he made it through without revealing a thing.

Fortunately for Red the news papers, being as stubborn as they can be, barely grazed the truth and assumed multiple dramatic reasons for Red's appearance. Unfortunately however despite the fact that he did not make front page, Hiro did have more than a few articles and opinions published about him in each paper. The most common picture was of Red holding onto his arm, but there were a couple of him talking with Intense-Man and one praising his superiority at intimidating the Robot. The Robot, a hero named EV700, had a very good track record, which helped boost Hiro's popularity.

Hiro read a little more of his article, "EV700 Grovels to His Superiors", and set it down on his dining table. He sat down and leaned on the table using his right hand to massage his forehead when he was interrupted by a soft knock. Hiro took his time getting up to answer the door.

Christine was wearing a robe and part of her hero outfit was exposed underneath. Hiro could tell she just got home only moments ago.

"Oh, you look awful." Christine told Hiro. "I take it work has been a horrible day."

"Yea you wouldn't believe." Hiro admitted. "I'm on like a quarter of the pages of the paper."

"Oh you got the paper." Christine was happy now and she zoomed to the dining table with a loud whoosh, dropping her towel. If she wasn't aiming for the paper in the first place it might have flown away. "Congratulations, you're getting pretty famous now. It's a shame considering your not a…"

Christine never finished her sentence. She looked at one page of the paper, then another and began flipping through quickly. After about five seconds she looked up blankly and screamed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

Hiro was covering his ears and grinding his teeth the whole time. After she was done he walked over and jerked the paper from her hands. All Hiro saw was the pictures of him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"They cut off my head." She said.

"WHAT?!" Hiro replied

Christine made a depressed stare and pointed at the paper. "They cut off my head in every paper. In every picture they cut my face out and just leave you and Red."

Hiro started flipping through and realized Christine was telling the truth. In every picture her head was either cropped out or digitally removed. In a couple of instances it was so obvious that the picture did not even look right.

"I can't believe they cut off my head." Hiro looked up and saw Christine was starting to cry. He rushed over and put his hands on her arms. "You work there. I thought you would have said or done something." Christine's outfit was shredded badly. It was obvious she just got off of work.

Hiro was stuttering and trying to think of something to say. "I-I'm sorry I d-didn't notice. I'm sure it was a mistake." which was an obvious lie. Without warning she grabbed a hold of Hiro and started crying.

"Why would they do such a thing?" She bawled. As she held onto him the brush between their bodies was enough to cause the top of Christine's outfit to fall away. Hiro was baffled as to what to do next. Christine obviously did not realize her outfit was coming apart.

"What's going on?" Hiro heard Rita's voice from behind him. He turned around to see her standing right next to him.

"Whoa! That was fast." Hiro said.

"What are you doing to Christine?" Rita demanded, almost a little to scary.

"No, I'm doing nothing!" Hiro started. "It's just they cut off her head."

"WHAT?!" Rita shouted.

Hiro started stuttering not knowing what to say when Christine jumped in. "In all the pictures in the newspapers they always cut off my head." Christine showed Rita the biggest picture which was cropped. "I don't know why they would do that." Christine started sobbing again.

All three stood there staring at the paper. Hiro couldn't help glancing at Christine's bust. When he looked up he noticed Rita staring right at him. Christine didn't notice when Rita hit him hard enough to fly across the room.

"There, there, it's Ok." Rita told Christine. "It happens a lot to heroes. You shouldn't let it bother you." Rita studied the paper for a little longer. "This isn't good." She suddenly said.

Hiro was back on his feet and standing next to them in an instant. He made and extremely serious face, as he tried to avoid staring. "What's wrong Rita?" He asked

"This isn't good at all." Rita said.

"Is this man bothering you?" All three of them jumped and turned to see a large muscular figure floating out the window. The man was gripping the pane with his left hand and giving Hiro an angry glare.

"No, it's OK." Christine sniffled.

"She was just reading the newspaper, that's all." Rita told the man. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't damage my property, thank you." The man gave a puzzled look and suddenly let go of the window pane which was now molded to his handprint.

"Sorry about that, you have a good day then." The figure started to float away but he continued to eye Hiro suspiciously as long as he could see him.

"That was kind of rude." Hiro stated. "Doesn't anyone knock anymore?"

"I think he recognized you from the paper." Hiro looked up as Rita spoke. "The way he was looking at you said a lot. As of now you are the talk of the town and your friend."

"My friend," Hiro said this with a questioning tone.

"To openly be viewed with a Super hero is a risky thing." Rita started warning. "The closer you get to one the more dangerous your life is in. When a hero gets really famous they usually have to keep their distance from those they care about to keep them safe. You need to be careful Hiro."

Rita's words were suddenly hitting him. This could only hurt his relationship with Red. Christine, still depressed, dropped the paper, and started sobbing. Instinctively Hiro glanced at her, and in and instant turned around, face completely flush.

"Come on Christine, let's go." Rita said as she whisked the towel back around her body and she began to walk her out of the apartment. Christine was still sobbing about the newspapers.

The sound of the door slamming was a relief, and Hiro got to work picking up the scattered newspapers. When he had finally organized and stacked them all in a nice little pile he notice the produce adds. "I guess I'll go grocery shopping." He thought to himself.

After grabbing his coat, he walked to the door, and with a tug he opened it to reveal Red, wearing a grey jumper suit and a faded cap. Red was standing there as if she had been contemplating knocking.

"Hi," he said. "I'm glad to see you again." Hiro was just trying to make conversation, but didn't know what to say.

"Hiro, we need to talk." It was obvious Red was fighting to urge to look away from his face. "I'm pretty sure you've read the news papers already and…" Red was suddenly interrupted by her stomach rumbling.

"Come one lets go." Hiro suddenly said almost as if she were never talking. Red looked up into his eyes confused, and he grabbed her hand and did everything just short of dragged her out of the apartment building.

Red was contemplating what she wanted to say to him as she followed. At some point she noticed she was holding his hand with both of hers. The made their way to a small shopping area with small booths lined up much like a carnival or circus. Red looked around somewhat surprised. She didn't know there was an event scheduled.

Hiro went to one of the first booths and bought a large basket with a wide hand towel. "Come on." He said encouragingly and she followed. They went from booth to booth looking at things and at some point Hiro started buying a bunch of small things and putting them in the basket. Red was distracted by the baseball memorabilia.

"Alright, we're all good." Hiro walked up alongside her and grabbed her hand once again. He started leading her away and she looked back at the booth one more time. Hiro just led the way. The walked along all the booths for a bit more, when Hiro found a small clearing and they stood there for a second.

"Look." Hiro said. Red looked up about twenty to thirty feet and saw several heroes flying around acrobatic like. "It's the First Paragon fireworks festival. They got the idea when heroes used to have parties downtown."

Red saw the heroes flying in all sorts of directions, and they were also setting off fireworks in mid-flight making a barrage of spectacular colors. It was an amazing sight she had never seen before. The biggest attraction to this event was that the heroes were also mingling their powers with the fireworks to make designs and patterns that normally could not be done. It was one of the most beautiful things Red had ever seen.

At one point a large flare like spark fell towards the crowd, causing everyone to wince before being caught by a hero in a yellow suit. When this happened Red noticed that Hiro was missing. She started to look around worried, but suddenly as if sensing her worry Hiro stepped into her sight.

"Sorry had to get something." He said.

Red smiled at him brightly, but then her smile slightly melted and she had to look away for a bit. "Hiro." She said.

"Come on, let's go." Hiro grabbed her hand and started leading her away again, not giving her a chance to talk. He led her about a block away and turned down a street just out of sight of all the activities. It was the edge of Paragon Park. There were several heroes in the center partying but it was quieter than usual, since everyone was at the festival. Hiro led her to one of the long fountains and they sat on the edge.

Red looked at Hiro puzzled for a bit when he looked up at her and smiled.

"Here you go." He pulled an apple and a sandwich out of the basket. Red looked down at it and realized that Hiro was making a picnic basket the whole time. She smiled lightly and took the sandwich. He handed her a drink and they sat quietly eating for a bit. Red was watching the other heroes and Hiro kept staring at her.

When they finish eating, Red said "Thank you." Then she reached over to grab Hiro's Hand. "Hiro, I know your doing what you feel is nice, but we got to talk."

"I know." Hiro said. Red gave a surprised look. "I know we can't stay together. I knew from the moment I saw you standing in my door."

"It's too dangerous." Red continued. "I of all people know the danger of letting someone get to close to me. Maybe if I were just a normal hero or an unknown things could have been different, but I'm one of the most popular. Hundreds of villains will flock to you just to get a chance at hurting me. I can not have that. Not again."

"I know Red. That's why I brought you here. I figured if we weren't gonna see each other again, at least I would have one last fond memory. I've been wanting to bring you here for a while now."

Red looked at Hiro puzzled. Hiro reached into the basket and pulled out a large loaf of bread and started crumbling pieces off the end.

"Look." He said pointing at the water. Red gazed at it for a moment when she suddenly realized she could see the stars. This shocked her. She looked up at the sky and could only see the glow of the force-field that surrounded the city. Somehow the water from the fountain was reflecting past the field.

"I figured it out a while back." Hiro said. "The man who designed these fountains purposely made it so that you could still see the beauty of the world only if you're looking for it." Hiro started throwing the bread crumbs onto the water, and after a few moments of ripples, little glowing ducks started to protrude from under the water. They were not natural they actually looked like holograms but they were actually eating the bread and affecting their environment.

Red reached out her finger to touch one and it hopped up onto her hand. She could feel the weight.

"Wow it took me over a week before I could even touch one myself." Hiro told Red. "I guess they can tell you're a good person." Hiro placed his right hand on Reds left causing her to stare away from the fountain. "I'm really going to miss you, every day." He told her. She just smiled and they looked back at the fountain.

After watching for some time silently, the moment was broken by a beeping noise. Red pulled out a stopwatch from one of her pockets and looked at it.

"I have to go." She said.

"That's ok." Hiro replied.

They stood up and held both hands for a bit. The glowing ducks were surrounding them at this point. When Red let Hiro's hands go she was starting to turn away but was interrupted.

"Wait." Hiro pleaded. She looked back to see Hiro rummaging through the basket again. It was large and it hadn't occurred to her that more might be in there. He quickly rushed and hid something behind his back. With his left hand he whisked away her faded cap and just as quickly he placed on a second brand new cap.

Red stood surprised for a second then removed the cap to look at it. It was a Red Sox cap, the exact same one she was staring at earlier, because it just said Red on the front. She felt a rush of confused emotion go over her at that moment.

"I saw you staring at it earlier. I knew you really wanted it, so I went to get it while you watched the show. I could see you needed a new one."

Red didn't let him speak anymore she dropped the cap wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately. She couldn't hold herself back. She held him like it was the last time she ever would and even Hiro was a little shocked by this. The little glowing ducks scattered a bit but continued to waddle around them. Hiro could tell she wanted the moment to go on forever but they were pressed for time so she pulled away quickly.

"Forget everything I just said." Red suddenly blurted out.

"But," Hiro tried to question.

"I don't care." Red interjected. "I'm tired of this. Everything in my life has all these rules and set backs. I want to be happy and I know you do to. We'll make it work somehow."

Hiro was shocked. He didn't know what to say. His mind was racing to think of some way to work things out, but he was unsuccessful because all he could think of was her. She didn't give him the chance to offer a solution though before she rushed up and kissed him again. This time Red pulled away slowly, and she slowly backed away.

"Bye." She said as she started floating away. She kissed her hand and waved as she flew off. Hiro just kept staring at her as she disappeared into the darkness, afraid to take his eyes off the spot where he last saw her. The smile on his face said it all. Nothing could ruin this day.

In an instant Hiro was drenched from head to toe, and the glowing ducks scattered and vanished as quickly as if they were never there. About a third of the water in the fountain splashed over the edge. Everything cleared up and settled to reveal an extremely large heroic figure standing in the fountain with arms thrown triumphantly in the air.

"Caveman stroooong!" the hero proclaimed. He was getting prepared to make another jump when he noticed Hiro standing there fully drenched. The hero looked down into the fountain then back up to Hiro putting the details together.

"Caveman sorry!" The figure said and he jumped out of the water out of sight. The sheer force of his jump caused another wave to come gushing out and soak Hiro even more. Hiro looked at the fountain then back at the Hiro, then at the corner where he last saw Red. He just smiled brightly, grabbed his picnic basket and started walking home as if nothing had ever happened.


	6. Chapter 6

STOP! Don't read any further. The last chapter I posted, chapter 5, was incomplete, and there was a lot omitted and it was only a rough draft. If you have not read the complete version yet you may want to go back and read. It. There really isn't much in this chapter pertaining to it, but it would be nice to know what really happened in the last one.

* * *

The alarms blared louder than any of the sirens, and the crowd outside was thicker than fog. Eight police cars blocked the entrance to the Liberty City bank. Two more pulled up and blocked another small portion of the street. There was a pair of large black hummers directly in view, one was half onto the sidewalk and the other was half through the front entrance to the bank. One of the many police chiefs jumped out of his car and grumbled to several others. 

"God-dam criminals never learn they always want to rob this dam place." He raised his megaphone and shouted toward the bank. "It's no use. The place is surrounded and no one has ever been able to successfully rob this place. Your best bet is to give up now while you can avoid serving severe time."

"Not today coppers!" A thin lanky man shouted as he made his way through the Hummers. He held a middle aged woman's arm and was pointing an Uzi at her head.

"Let her go now, we do not take lightly to threats, and we will not warn you again." The chief placed down his megaphone with extreme confidence.

"I got a better idea porky." The man screamed. He then lowered to barrel of his gun and with a pull of the trigger shot through the woman's right leg almost shredding it. Her scream was loud enough to be heard over the firing.

All the cops jumped and prepared to charge but the police Chief's hand motion stopped them all. The police chief shouted over his intercom. "Bloody hell were did he get a disruptor."

"This guy is doing some serious time." Someone replied back.

"New deal pig," The criminal shouted. "You and your buddies clear those pretty Crown Victoria's out of my way and I promise nobody dies."

A small group of heroes could be seen approaching and everyone stopped to watch suddenly tense. Two of them flew right over, one ran by without a hesitation, and a fourth only glanced for less than a second as he jumped through without giving the situation a second thought.

The police chief watched angrily, his fist was almost clenched hard enough to crush the megaphone. "Useless heroes never give you the time of day if they don't see a challenge. If it were up to me I'd have them all locked up."

"Time's up morning bacon." The criminal suddenly had his confidence back. "You have until the count of ten." He raised the Uzi back up to the woman's head who was now clearly fighting to stay conscious. "One, two…"

"Dam it get those cars out of here." The chief screamed and in an instance the street was clear of every car and civilian.

"Let's go!" The man said as he turned his head. Five more men jumped out each holding their own hostages. They all rushed to the Hummers and loaded their precious cargo and hostages. The negotiating criminal looked into the bank one last time and told a seventh person, "Are you sure about this?"

There was a dark figure in the shadows and he made no move to leave. "I'm not in this for the money." Was what the hidden man said.

The negotiating terrorist started laughing and jumped into the back of one of the hummers. They both sped off, and as they did, the man through the injured hostage out onto the street. "Don't try to follow up pricks or someone dies." The criminal shouted.

The woman hit the pavement hard and rolled nearly twenty feet before she stopped. She wasn't moving anymore and it was quite the traumatizing mess to see. A medic rushed to her immediately along with two other cops. The chief took a few steps wide eyed at this and was obviously worried.

"Is she dead? Why isn't she teleporting?" The chief started shouting.

"She's alive sir, barely, but we don't know why she's still here." The medic said.

"Follow those cars. Don't let them escape, now!" The police chief was preparing to jump into his vehicle when he heard his men gasp. There standing in the middle of the wreckage that was once the bank, stood a seventh criminal. This man looked to be blonde Australian, with a white muscle shirt, buzz cut hair, small cigar, and a long beaded black whip over his shoulder, but that was not what made the chief worried. Equipped onto each arm were extremely large chain-guns.

"He has a disruptor!" The police chief shouted, suddenly realizing what was going on. "Take that woman out of range now. Everyone! Back away from the area!"

The paramedic and cops grabbed the woman and started hauling her further away, while all the other cops turned to get a good distance. No ones timing was good enough. The Australian mans weapons were already up and firing before anyone was a safe distance. The spray of bullets hailed down like a pair of scissors chopping away at paper. The two cops and paramedics were hit by the spray and fortunately the woman wasn't. As they fell all but the paramedic was lucky enough to fall far enough to teleport to the hospital. All the cops jumped down to the street but several were unlucky enough to get hit in the arms and abdomen.

The Australian man was laughing manically. The chief tried his best to look over his car but the fear of being him by his guns was restraining him.

He grabbed his walkie talkie and shouted. "Open fire!" Several cops jumped up from behind their vehicles, and the chief took aim with his gun. He saw the mad man aim his chain guns, with a confident smile, at the two farthest officers. "Dam it, where's a hero when you need one." The chief wondered.

The two hummers were speeding down the street with three police cars trailing behind them. The noise they were making was enough to warn anyone within a large radius. Both vehicles were shooting at each other, and the maniac who was negotiating earlier was enjoying every second. They had the back door to their hummer up and they were taking wild shots at both the cops and pedestrians.

Frustrated one of the cops sped up close and managed to shoot one of the men leaning out of the vehicle. The man flew out and landed on the street, rolling a few feet. He picked himself up to his knees and raised his hands defensively as he saw a police car rushing strait at him. The police car swerved to miss him, but it was in vain, because the criminal fortunately teleported away before anything could happen.

One of the police men suddenly shouted over the radio. "Only some of them have disruptors. If we can separate them we can catch them one at a time."

The villain in charge became very upset by this and quickly grabbed one of the male hostages. "They can't teleport to the hospital if they're already dead." He shouted. He raised his weapon and pointed it at the hostages head. Before he could pull the trigger he was hit by something much wider than a bullet. A female figure dressed all in black with black face mask came swinging from a rope fast enough to fly into and kick the blood hungry criminal.

The man was already unconscious when the woman lifted him up and started patting him down. The heroine continued frisking for a few seconds when she finally got a hold of what she was looking for. She pulled out a little pen like device looked at it for a few seconds and then crushed it. After crushing it, without hesitation, she threw the man out the back of the hummer. The other two hostages were curled up in the corner.

"Who…" One of the hostages started to ask.

"Shhhh!" The woman stopped him. "Just call me, Black Silver." The man just nodded. "Wait here."

Black Silver Looked up to the driver of the Hummer and was surprised at the size of the vehicle. It felt more like an equipment van than any hummer she had been in. Judging by the battle it went through she was sure it was all metal too unlike the new models. "Someone spare no expense robbing this bank." She thought. "Too bad I'm going to wreck their toys starting with the driver." The heroine made her way to the front of the vehicle.

The police did their best to surround the hummer as it slowed to a crawl. It stopped just short of an intersection, and the two hostages jumped out. The officers quickly gathered them out of the way and pointed their guns at the vehicle. Without warning the gas was floored and the hummer plowed right through one of the police cars. As it sped away the third criminal was revealed standing on the sidewalk. He was originally being blocked by the hummer.

"Freeze!" One of the cops shouted. "Put your hands in the air." The man made a small movement, almost as if he were trying to raise his hands when he fell down face first into the concrete. His body teleported away before they could even reach him.

Black Silver was driving as fast as she could. Considering all the excess weight was gone, she was making good timing and catching up rather quick. After about a minute she saw the other hummer dodging traffic, there was one police car, but it wasn't making any progress. Fortunately she had the element of surprise.

She zoomed past the cop car and aligned herself behind the other hummer. The back door opened and she was one man lean out with his machine gun and a radio.

"Marco?" The man said over the radio. It was obviously a check to make sure they weren't being tricked.

Black Silver grabbed a radio and in her most masculine voice replied. "Polo!" The criminal showed no hesitation in raising his weapon and firing at her windshield. She raised her hand in a futile defense gesture. To her surprise she was fine. "A victim of their success." She muttered.

"Bullet proof." She stated with a relief. "Now let's see if its woman proof." She looked around the vehicle and found a heavy chain lying between the two front seats. Speeding up she brought her car parallel to the other and lifted the chain. With all of her strength she tossed the chain toward the passenger window and it successfully went through shattering it and causing the chain to hit the other hummer. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to break two windows and the chain just trailed into the street.

She jolted the vehicle a little to the left, causing the chain to jump, and managed to get a hold of the other vehicles tire. With a loud pop the chain made quick work shredding what was left and she stomped on the brakes. She grabbed the other end of the chain with both hands and held tightly. The jolt of the other car was stronger than she anticipated, but she would not let go. She saw the criminals being thrown around inside the vehicle and the one who was taking shots at her was hanging off the back door clinging for his life.

The other hummer started tipping and just when she felt her grip breaking she let go, causing her opponent to start flipping. She felt a burst of sympathy as she saw the man clinging to the back door get momentarily pinned between the back door and the street but as the hummer flipped he was left there and the vehicle continued its momentum.

The back lash from holding the chain caused Black Silver's vehicle to start leaning in the opposite direction. Thinking quickly she shoulder smashed the passenger door causing the vehicle to right itself. When she pulled over, the other car had already stopped rolling. She got out and started walking toward the wreck. The man lying on the street was still moving and she rushed to him. When she got to him she saw him pull out his disruptor, push a button, and he was suddenly teleported to the hospital. The twinge of guilt she had was suddenly gone.

Black Silver started making her way toward the enemies' hummer when one of the men jumped out wielding a machine gun. He could barely walk and he started shooting at her. A few of the bullets hit, but they hardly affected her. The man suddenly realized she had super strength. He lowered his weapon as she walked up to him.

"Oh shit." The man didn't have the chance to say anything else. Her fist landed directly in the center of his face. The sheer force of it was enough to send him flying several meters. The man hit the ground and slid a few seconds before teleporting to the hospital. The heroine walked the back of the hummer and looked in. Two of the hostages were still there. She was hoping the last one teleported out.

"Are you Ok?" she asked. One of them, a woman, nodded the other pointed behind her.

"He went that way." The man said.

Black Silver turned around to see someone running through the gathering crowd. She chased after him and it didn't take her long to catch up. She managed to corner him in the park in a creek. Before she could do anything to him he raised a pen like device much like the disruptor, and pressed a button. In an instant the man was gone and the device fell to the ground. She picked it up and started rushing back to the hummers.

When she got there the police already had everything under control. She showed one of them the device, and he told her it was a one time teleporter, and he could be anywhere. She was about to ask for more information when the radio caught her attention.

* * *

The Australian was admiring the damage he had caused. It would take the city weeks to repair what he had already done. He did feel a twinge of disappointment though. He had hoped someone would be brave enough to give him a challenge, but so far no one had taken interest. He started walking on the broken glass from the front doors to the bank and glanced around some police cars to see if he could spot someone. 

Out from another corner, came the police chief who was still there. "Bloody heroes won't do anything to help. I'll take care of you myself." He raised his revolver and took three shots. The criminal flinched a little when each bullet hit him, but there was no sign as to whether he was even hurt. He smiled joyously and raised both chain guns pointed directly at the chief, who dropped his own weapon.

The barrels started spinning but not a shot made it out when the sound of screeching tires filled the air. The Australian man turned quickly and managed to get a few shots off before he was hit full force by a speeding hummer. The speed was so strong that he was slammed into a brick wall flattened completely by the vehicle. Black Silver got out of the hummer and rushed to the police chief.

"Is he the only one?" she asked. The chief nodded. He started wiping his forehead in relief when the moment was broken by the sound of the hummer being pushed back.

"Crap!" the chief shouted as he ran for cover. The villain emerged from the wreckage seemingly unscathed. The heroin and chief noticed both his weapons were broken. He walked out of the rubble and looked at Black Silver with a satisfied smile. Throwing down his weapons he pulled the whip from around his shoulder.

"Hello my name is The Outback Scorpion, and today you are my prey." The Villain said in a formal tone. "I have been waiting all day for you."

Black Silver had a whip also, but she found herself wishing she still had the chain from earlier. Something did not look right about his whip.

She jumped out of the way as he cracked his whip in the spot she had just been standing, and he started chuckling manically as he went on the attack. She used her whip and managed to hit him a few times. She was able to tell he was hurt, but she didn't know how much. With another crash she felt her leg suddenly blossom in pain. She looked down were the whip had hit her and she now had a large cut in her leg. The Scorpion smiled widely at this and started whipping wildly trying to get another hit.

Black Silver pulled several small explosives out of her belt and managed to hit The Outback Scorpion several times in the chest. He grunted and backed up. Taking advantage of this she wrapped her whip around him. What she didn't expect was that as soon as she got a good hold on him, his whip made contact with her. Through some form of mystical power his whip coiled itself around her, and she could feel it cutting into her flesh. She couldn't move her arms or legs. Her own whip let go and she started trying to fight.

Black Silver was trying to think quickly when suddenly the sound of the police distracted both of them.

"Fire!" The chief shouted. Suddenly a hail of bullets rained down on the Outback Scorpion. His grip loosened and he started to back away. When Black Silver was able to move, she broke free, and started charging after her opponent. He didn't wait for her, he turned and ran. His speed was very good. He managed to make it around the corner, and by the time Black Silver caught up he was gone. She looked down and spotted a one time teleporter lying on the ground.

She picked it up and looked at it frustrated. Her frustration was suddenly relieved by a chime from her belt. She pulled out a little digital device, and the screen read "Level Up!"

"It's about time." She declared.

Black Silver made her chat with the police quick, she was now rather impatient. The medics wanted to check her out but she told them she was fine, despite their protests. After looking at the damage and making sure everything was under control, she started making her way to Atlas Park.

The chief stopped her before she could get far. "Hold on." He said. "I just wanted to say thanks. There are a lot of heroes out there but the true heroes are those who put their lives on the line and do the job to help people and not those that are only out to make a name." He looked up at Black Silver for a moment then saluted. "You are a real hero."

"I'm Black Silver." She held out her hand to shake and the Chief took hers.

"You can call me Angel." He replied.

"Chief Angel huh?" she asked. "You were pretty heroic out there yourself." She smiled and turned away. "I'll see you around." She started rushing to her destination now eager to obtain her next level.

"Now I can learn how to fly, or run, or high-jump, or whatever I want." She thought impatiently. "I don't know what to pick." She was so eager she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. As she made her way to Atlas Park she couldn't help wondering why she felt so jittery about it. She was a few blocks away from the park when it hit her like a waterfall.

She suddenly couldn't walk anymore. Her vision blurred and the butterflies turned to nausea. She touched her face to see if she was sweating, and she brought down her hand to reveal blood.

"Poison." She stated. "I can't believe I didn't notice." She fell to the ground unable to move. Something was wrong. When poison hits you this bad, you usually go straight to the hospital. A thought hit her heavily and she was too dazed to even realize if she was awake. The Outback Scorpion didn't teleport away. It was a trap. He wanted her to find the device. She reached under her belt and grabbed a few things. One was the one time teleporter. She flipped it to reveal there was still a charge left. The other item she grabbed was her cell phone.

She flipped it open and pressing random buttons, she heard a voice on the line. She didn't even realize where she was anymore or what she was doing. It was like being extremely drunk. She looked around and said two words. She didn't even know what she said because she suddenly passed out.

* * *

"Thank goodness you're awake." Sylvia heard from somewhere. She tried looking around but she couldn't make out where she was. Her sight was still bad and she couldn't think to well. She felt her head and found a wet rag.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"It's me Hiro." He replied. "You called me on speed dial, and you said two words. Turns out they were the street names of the intersection you were on. I rushed as fast as I could."

Sylvia started rubbing her temples, when she suddenly sat up with a heavy jolt. It hurt her whole body to do so. "You took off my mask." She shouted.

"Relax; I already knew who you were." Hiro said reassuringly. He raised his cell phone and showed it to her. "Caller ID." He said with a half smile. She could see clearly now and she noticed his sleeves were gone. She looked at the wet rag that she was now holding and noticed it was part of his sleeve.

"I had to remove your mask to clean your face. You were covered in blood. You were also surrounded by a bunch of thugs so I had to do a little bluffing to get you away. No one should cause trouble this close to Downtown."

She saw her mask lying to the side and picked it up to put on. "You realize you can't tell anyone my…" she looked up at Hiro and realized he had a black eye and must have been roughed up while trying to help her. She didn't finish her sentence. She lay back down and looked behind her. He had brought her to the Long fountains by Atlas Park. She could see stars reflecting off the water. She never realized you could see stars In Paragon City. It was night he must have been watching over her all day.

"When you're ready, I can walk you to the hospital." Hiro offered this without as much as a hint of annoyance. He wasn't upset with her for ruining his day and getting him roughed up. Suddenly something filled her mind. They were downtown. She could go get her next level. She pushed herself up and patted herself down. She could barely walk, but she wasn't letting anything stand in the way.

"Are you ready?" Hiro asked her.

"Not quite yet." She answered. "I'm going to go level up first. I worked hard for this."

"Maybe you should visit the hospital first." Hiro protested.

She ignored him and started dragging herself toward Atlas Park where all the other heroes were. She hadn't made it far before her whole body was filled with terror.

There was a figure standing just outside the light blocking her path. "Black Silver, your finally awake, my prey?" The Outback Scorpion was standing there obviously healed, and confident. He unraveled his whip and started walking towards her.

"Hiro run!" Sylvia shouted. Hiro did run. He ran straight toward the figure. Fortunately the villain didn't care about him and he only batted Hiro to the side. He kept walking toward Sylvia. She jumped out of the way as he cracked his whip at her. It was now obvious he was toying with her. The amount of strength it took her to dodge his next few moves were more than enough to tell her she was no match. She managed to make her way to Hiro.

"Here." She said. She handed him the one time teleporter. "These will only teleport one person and one person alone. Take it and get out of here. This is my fight. Don't worry about me."

Hiro didn't have the chance to protest, when Sylvia received an elbow in the face from The Outback Scorpion. He pushed Hiro to the side without a care and started walking toward her as she crawled backward on the concrete.

"You could have gotten out of her, and I might have let him live. He's no sport, but instead you chose to stay and fight. That will make this victory all the more honorable."

He reached down and lifted her by the neck. She could feel all the pressure of his hand bearing down on her neck it felt like he was crushing her entire soul at once. Sylvia could barely see and every thing was going black. She was certain she was imagining things when she saw Hiro's face directly in front of her. Suddenly the villain released his grip and she fell. Her sight returned instantly and she saw Hiro with his arms wrapped around the villain.

Hiro had the teleporter in his left hand and he jammed it into the mad mans vest and pressed the button. A wild elbow flew from The Outback Scorpion and nailed Hiro right in the face causing him to fly six feet away. Before the villain could even turn around to fight back the teleporter activated and in a flash he was gone. The only sound after that was the sound of the used teleporter and the mystical whip hitting the ground. Hiro lay on the ground for like a full minute, and Sylvia had to catch her breath.

Sylvia was the first to stand. She rushed to Hiro who was now sitting up and she placed her hands on his face. She looked into his eyes with pure worry.

"Hiro, you saved me. You could have left, but you didn't." She didn't notice that she was rambling like a little girl. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. Are you ok? We gotta get you to the hospital."

"I think my nose is broken." Hiro said after a few seconds. "Do you think they can fix it?"

Sylvia brushed her hand against it gently and started laughing. She didn't say and words just laughed and nodded. She just laughed and nodded till tears came out.

"Come on, let's go." Sylvia said after a few seconds. They both stumbled to their feet and started walking further downtown.

"Didn't you want to go get your level?" Hiro asked Sylvia as they walked past the never-ending party of heroes.

Sylvia looked at the group only once, she then looked at Hiro, then the hospital, and finally back to Hiro. "No. My level can wait. Let's go to the Hospital."

"That sounds like a great idea Black Silver." Hiro answered.

She tugged his arm forward a bit. "Please, call me Sylvia."

They happily stumbled the rest of the way to the hospital, silently, arm in arm.


End file.
